I baked a PIE and made a DRESS!!

Well baked a whole pie and made half a dress. I'm hoping to finish the dress by the end of the week. I've talking about the integration of jewellery and clothing so the line between the two does not exist. They should be worn together. They must need each other. As seen in the work of Donna Karan and Robert Lee Morris. I'm not a fashion designer or seamstress in other words I'm not good at sewing. This will not be world's best design in terms of fashion, but I'm hoping the jewellery will make up for that.
The pie was great by the way!!!

Donna Karan Spring 2005
Alexander McQueen Fall 2000

Donna Karan fall 2003 courtesy of Style.com

Don't get me wrong is a response to a comment made to my blogpost on the DUT Fashion show. I received a comment from one the designers involved, saying that they felt that the point of the show was to showcase their craftsmanship as fashion designers and not have people commenting on "How nice those Foschini earrings are". I totally understand this point. Only i think my point was misunderstood.

My comments where in regards to the lack of collaborations between fashion designers and jewellery designers. I didn't see much jewellery that has been specifically designed for the fashion show. Having a collaboration between disciplines would serve to enhance the fashion designer's craftsmanship. Such examples can be found in the collaborations between Alexander McQueen and Shaun Leane, Donna Karan and Robert Lee Morris. Being able to combine the characteristics of the metal with those of fabric is not any easy thing and when successful looks like the above examples.

This does not mean that one can not use jewellery in a less integrated way then the above. Donna Karan used jewellery by Robert Lee Morris in her Spring2005 fashion show that already existed Using jewellery pieces that already exist can work as well.

Jewellery and fashion are now integral parts of each other. On the street you don't see one without the other. The collaborations can be natural and wouldn't take away from the either. So to the fashion designer who commented (somehow I lost your comment), if you want the experience of working with a jewellery designer, please let me know. I would like that.

Sanlam SA fashion Week
Amanda Laird Cherry
Colleen Eitzen
Terrence Bray
Picture by ifashion.com

I was surprised by a friend with aticket for the SA Fashion Week in Durban at the Durban Manor. On the line up were Colleen Eitzen, Amanda Laird Cherry, Rjkay Creations and Terrence bray. Amanda laird Cherry is my favorite SA fashion designer and seeng her latest offering, confirmed that. I noticed that she had used jewellery such as rings and neckpieces. The jewellery she used had fabric as an intergral part of the piece. Maybe it was what she had to use. Colleen on the other had long neckpieces that had pierced out pendents on them in silver and twisted rope. It looked like it was made by a jewellery designer. I noticed no earrings though.

New Pants

Stella McCartney
Givenchy
Dolce & Gabbbana

Three fashion designers take on the new shape for pants.

DUT fashion show

I was at the DUT fashion show on the 2nd of October. I was interested to see how the students would interpret the seasons fashion. The nipped-waist, belled-skirt silhouette with simple forms were worked into the collections.

I have been watching many of the Spring/Summer 2010 collections from the fashion shows around the world. I did notice the fashion designers used things outside of the clothing to bring across their concepts. There were layers of necklaces and earrings by Dolce and Gabbana and bags and other accessories by many fashion designers. I found there was a lack in the use of accessories in the DUT fashion show. I feel that using other things other than the clothing can introduce the audience to your concept. Accessories are a tool to be used to tell an individual story so I think fashion designers should use them.

It might be that the lack of finances could be a factor, but with some creativity, I think it can be done.

Azanian Love Songs

I was invited to style clothing for a fashion show last friday. This fashion show was part of an initiative by Encore event managment company to promote women in the arts. The evening included poetry, song and fashion. Poetry by Don Mattera, a South African poet, most ofwho's work was composed during the apartheid era. This poerty was then turned into song.

The fashion part of the evening featured Controlled Chaos and Suzy Q. My jewellery was worn with Controlled Chaos clothing. It was fun to just do my part. No worries about the management of the event.

Under the Potential Covers

I've become interested in magazines. Well I'm kinda falling into magazines. So why not make up a magazine and dream of the perfect one. I call it Gudenuf Design. A magazine that will profile local design heros. Any type of design, profile local designers and what they are doing and how to find them in Durban. This is all in my dreams anyway.

I got help with a cover for my non-existant mag, from Thomas de Beer. It ws good working with a graphic designer who has done this before. i could just say stuff like "sorry I don't like this!" or "it just looks wrong!" and he just fixes it. Unlike me on photoshop (hours of toil and hardship). I tried to find pictures from the fashion shoot I did that would show my jewellery and kinda introduce me as a design hero. Getting a piece of jewellery onto a cover is alot of work. the process is long and feels rather random. I mean which piece ends up on the cover depended on which picture worked for that cover. i don't think magazne editors are that deliberate with the jewellery or the clothing. The cover of a fashion magazine is usually about the person on the cover and whatever enhances that person. Not at all about a spacific jeweller or specific clothing. If the picture doesn't work then it doesn't work.

So what type of jewellery is most likely to be on a cover? What can I make that is likely to land on a cover of a magazine

Artspace Exhibition

The exhibition went off without a hitch! Except that the final set up looked a little different then planned. But I think that was okay in the end. Now the problem is writing about the thing. This is not my favourite thing. I have to try to be more formal!

I presented my work jewellery based on fashion and fashion magazines. I wanted the experience of a fashion shoot so I created one myself. I selected clothing from a fashion designer and then matched my jewellery to the clothing. There was a pre-selection of clothing and jewellery, but on the day the fit of the clothing and the jewellery on the models dictated what i would use. The best pictures that have been edited by the photographer are featured in the exhibition. The intention was to present the results of a fashion shoot and the jewellery used. I do think that a final product was lacking from the display. I have tried out magazine cover mock ups in previous posts. But I felt that none of them were actual magazine cover page worthy. One has to take photographs with the cover in mind and I didn't do that. I think I can try to get one that comes close. So watch this space for my MAGAZINE.

Integration

This dress looks crazy to me and is not what i would want at the moment. So I'm still trying to get there. The round flower elements are looking too small. I need them bolder and unapologetic. When I thin of Alexander McQueen's and Robert Lee Morris' work the metal work is not an addition but an important component of the dress. I need more elements.

Integration

When speaking with Nokwanda I realised that integrating these two design disciplines would not be easy. I had an idea in my head and I wanted it work. She was telling me how it couldn't work. Maybe I just wanted her to just make it happen. I have to find a better way to work as a team. And I will be workin with her on a dress for the July Horse race in July.

In the meanwhile Since I want what I want, I'll try my had at making a dress. I have made dresses before. So I'll be the jeweller and the fashion designer. Above are sketches for two dresses I will attemp to make. Good luck to me!

Intergration

Elements pierced out from copper plate
I had this idea that I wanted to try integrating jewellery with fashion. I meet with Nokwanda, a fashion designer of Controlled Chaos and discussed the technical issues of combining metal with fabric. These are the sketches from that talk. I had cut out these flower elements from copper plate, which I thought could be used for a dress. I planned on enameling each one to add colour. The copper might be too heavy and the enameling take too long. I have started investigating aluminium and anodising.

Featured Jeweller - Robert Lee Morris

Robert Lee Morris collaborated with Donna Karan since 1985. They worked together, integrating jewellery into a collection of clothing instead of lending jewellery to a designer to add onto clothing. Even though Robert Lee Morris has created and continues to create his own jewellery, he works with fashion designers to create jewellery for specific collections.

Fashion Show part4

This is my first attempt at jewellery for the fashion show. I like the colours and the use of the old coins(finally). The way it is worn has a story to be told a little later. It doesn't seem bold enough to me. Does every piece have to be bold?

These earrings are starting to look fashion show-esk! I found plates that have a pattern at the scrap yard on Sydney road months ago. apparently parts from a car engine. I like the idea of them. They don't seem practical to me. But I would definately wear something like them. This got me thinking about how conceptual a jewellery designer needs to be to design for a fashion show? It seems to me that maybe I need to concentrate on the show of fashion show?

Fashion Show part2

Some chiffon fabrics Nokwanda will be using. Through this process I was hoping to find clarity on my research and I think it's happening. Designing jewellery for a fashion show turns out to be different then for just a person. There more things to consider. Is it big enough to see from the audience? Does it suit the style or theme of the fashion designer? What is your theme?